‘Grooming gangs are being cynically weaponised to divide us’
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No community or culture is ‘uniquely predisposed to offending’.
In recent months, my identity as a British Muslim student has felt increasingly under siege.
The renewed focus on grooming gangs such as the one in Rochdale has been alarmingly weaponised to conflate these crimes with Muslims, Pakistanis and immigrants. Such discussions cannot be reduced to matters of race or religion.
Islam unequivocally condemns all forms of sexual exploitation. As such, anyone who violates the dignity of another human being is acting in complete opposition to Islamic teachings and must be brought to justice, regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Equating the actions of a criminal minority with the wider Muslim community is grossly unfair.
The Home Office’s own research from 2020 highlights that the majority of offenders in group-based child sexual exploitation cases are white and that no community or culture is ‘uniquely predisposed to offending’.
Thus, framing these crimes as a critique of a religion or culture is a gross disservice to victims and distracts from the systemic failures of authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.
Unfortunately, this scapegoating of Muslims feels part of a broader trend.
Only a few months ago, the mosque I attend at university was targeted in an attack by violent protesters. Before that, prominent public figures had questioned the loyalty of British Muslim youth.
The nation my family sought asylum in, celebrated for its freedoms and fairness, has felt less welcoming.
It pains me deeply to see the country I love, and have always admired for its values of justice and inclusivity, becoming increasingly divided.
I still believe in the decency and integrity of the British public to see through these divisive narratives and recognise them as politically motivated attempts to exploit fear and prejudice.
Let us instead focus on addressing systemic failings, supporting victims and ensuring such crimes are never repeated. Malik Fraz Ahmad, Bradford
METRO TALK - HAVE YOUR SAY
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch et al should be ashamed of themselves for turning child sexual exploitation into political point-scoring and giving credence to the likes of Elon Musk.
The tech billionaire has accused prime minister Sir Keir Starmer of being ‘complicit of the rape of Britain’, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips of being a ‘rape genocide apologist’ and former PM Gordon Brown of being ‘deeply complicit in the mass rapes in exchange for votes’.
Phillips has spent her life in and out of politics working tirelessly to help victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Clearly Musk thinks researching a subject before posting an opinion is not necessary. What will another inquiry – such as that demanded by Badenoch but refused by Phillips – achieve?
Victims past, present and future need action now, not more years wasted on yet another review. I cannot understand why Badenoch and other Conservative MPs are demanding an inquiry now, as the Tory government failed to act on a previous inquiry, which concluded in 2022.
Unless of course they think there is an opportunity to have Musk as a benefactor now that he has rejected Nigel Farage?!
Those deriding the present government should be asking why the previous government of some 14 years did very little in following up the recommendations of previous reports. Angela, London
To smack or not to smack?
Is it ever justified to hit your kids?
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On occasion
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Never
‘Smacking made me a better person’
Irena (MetroTalk, Mon) calls for a ban on smacking and suggests this method of child correction amounts to physical abuse.
I was smacked when I was brought up because I deserved it and it made me a better person. My son got taps on his hand and backside occasionally when he was young and it pulled him straight.
It has done him no harm and he has become a level-headed young man who knows how to respect people and also to differentiate between right and wrong.
The odd tap from his parents did not wholly create what he is today but it may have contributed and there was absolutely no damage done. We didn’t take a 100m run-up with a baseball bat – we gave him an occasional light tap when his behaviour infrequently required it.
It is the shock of it along with a stern expression, not always physical pain that assists with a child’s discipline.
The more people who adopt Irena’s jelly-soft outlook, the more feeble, insecure, wokey people we’ll get – the very last thing this country needs. As to her idea of ‘helping parents to parent their children’? Thank the Lord I never came across such condescending arrogance as that of Irena’s all those years ago. Ben Calder-Smith, Rochester
‘Violence isn’t the way to resolve problems’
Smacking children should be banned. Corporal punishment merely reinforces the belief that violence, not words, is the way to deal with problems. Helena Newton, Redbridge
Noisy neighbours and Russian spy whales
Robert (MetroTalk, Mon) says the answer to the housing crisis is not to build out-of-town estates but terraces alongside roads. Terraces? With thumping techno trance or screaming matches through your communal wall at 2am? No thanks! Detached all the way! Vincent Garstrokes, Edinburgh
Has it not occurred to anyone at the MOD that the increasing number of humpback whales spotted off the coast of Cornwall and Devon could be
spying for Russia? Bob Readman, Sevenoaks